Ironically , the misogyny Rush Limbaugh spewed for three days over Sandra Fluke was not much worse than his regular broadcast of sexist , racist and homophobic hate speech :

-- Female Cabinet members are `` Sex-retaries . ''

-- `` The NAACP should have riot rehearsal . They should get a liquor store and practice robberies . ''

-- The National Organization for Women is `` a bunch of whores to liberalism . ''

-- -LSB- Said to an African-American female caller -RSB- : `` Take that bone out of your nose and call me back . ''

These are just a few samples from the arsenal of degrading language Limbaugh deploys on women , people of color , lesbians and gays , immigrants , the disabled , the elderly , Muslims , Jews , veterans , environmentalists and so forth .

Limbaugh does n't just call people names . He promotes language that deliberately dehumanizes his targets . Like the sophisticated propagandist Josef Goebbels , he creates rhetorical frames -- and the bigger the lie , the more effective -- inciting listeners to view people they disagree with as sub-humans . His longtime favorite term for women , `` femi-Nazi , '' does n't even raise eyebrows anymore , an example of how rhetoric spreads when unchallenged by coarsened cultural norms .

At least this most recent incident has turned a spotlight back on the vile , damaging statements Limbaugh has been promulgating for years . His sponsors are dropping him ; his stations have begun to follow suit . VoteVets , a coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans , released a statement by female vets , including Katherine Scheirman , former chief of medical operations in the U.S. Air Forces , demanding that the American Forces Network drop Limbaugh from its programming .

They state , `` Our entire military depends on troops respecting each other -- women and men . There simply can be no place on military airwaves for sentiments that would undermine that respect . ''

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That makes this a fitting time to inquire of his syndicator , Clear Channel Communications , whether it intends to continue supporting someone who addicts his audience to regular doses of hate speech . Clear Channel 's Premiere Radio Networks Inc. , which hosts Limbaugh 's program , has defended his recent comments .

If Clear Channel wo n't clean up its airways , then surely it 's time for the public to ask the FCC a basic question : Are the stations carrying Limbaugh 's show in fact using their licenses `` in the public interest ? ''

Spectrum is a scarce government resource . Radio broadcasters are obligated to act in the public interest and serve their respective communities of license . In keeping with this obligation , individual radio listeners may complain to the FCC that Limbaugh 's radio station -LRB- and those syndicating his show -RRB- are not acting in the public interest or serving their respective communities of license by permitting such dehumanizing speech .

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The FCC takes such complaints into consideration when stations file for license renewal . For local listeners near a station that carries Limbaugh 's show , there is plenty of evidence to bring to the FCC that their station is n't carrying out its public interest obligation . Complaints can be registered under the broadcast category of the FCC website : http://www.fcc.gov/complaints

This is n't political . While we disagree with Limbaugh 's politics , what 's at stake is the fallout of a society tolerating toxic , hate-inciting speech . For 20 years , Limbaugh has hidden behind the First Amendment , or else claimed he 's really `` doing humor '' or `` entertainment . '' He is indeed constitutionally entitled to his opinions , but he is not constitutionally entitled to the people 's airways .

It 's time for the public to take back our broadcast resources . Limbaugh has had decades to fix his show . Now it 's up to us .

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Fonda , Morgan , Steinem : Limbaugh long made racist , sexist , homophobic remarks

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His most recent incident drew strong rebuke , some advertisers have dropped him

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They say Clear Channel should dump him ; if not FCC should evaluate station licenses

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Writers : Airwaves scarce government resource ; his show not `` in public interest ''